 My name is Emily. Thank you for joining me today for some yoga. For today's yoga I'd like to show you five restorative yoga poses. Now restorative yoga is particularly good for helping your parasympathetic nervous system to just relax and feel calm. I find that oftentimes I'm like, I have to do this, I have dead lines and I'm always in that fight-or-flight spot and so it's really nice to have some poses to go to to just completely relax and let go. Now for the restorative yoga we also use many props because the idea is to keep your body completely supported so that your muscles don't have to work at all and then you're just fully able to relax into the position. Furthermore these positions are held for anywhere from three minutes to over ten minutes and I think for the purposes of this yoga we'll hold each pose for about three breaths but then feel free to string them together in any sequence that you'd like for any length that you'd like. So to get started go ahead and gather up some props. I have two pillows here, two towels, two blocks. Feel free to grab some blankets and fold them so that you can stack them easily. It's nice to make a little bit of height to hold your body where it feels good for you. So let's take a moment to get some of those props together and then let's get started with just a quiet moment. So we'll come into a comfortable seated position. Let's imagine that there's a cord extending from the crown of your head to the sky. Drop your chin slightly. If it feels good bring your eyes to a close. Bringing your attention into the room. Focusing on any sounds. Letting go of any thoughts. Your attention into your body. Connecting with your breath. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Good intention. You'd like to invite into your practice or perhaps even into your life in this new year. Perhaps peace, relaxation, joy, whatever it is you'd like to focus on. So to get started with let's start with a supported child's pose. So for this one I have a stack of two pillows and that will be to support my chest. Now if I find that I need support in my knees or behind my knees I can use a blanket or a towel to do so. So for this let's come into, let's come onto our knees. Bringing the pillows close and for our child's pose. Let's bring our legs open. Toes are together. So this is where I put the pillow right here on my heel so that it supports me a little more. And I'll inhale here. On the exhale let's lean forward bringing our fingers to the ground. Bringing our body onto the pillow. This is great stretch for just releasing tension in the back. Feel free to bring your head to either side. Sinking into the posture. Just letting your props hold you and support you. You may need to experiment to find just the right height for you. So inhale in here. On the exhale use your hands. Bring you into a seated position. So from here I'm turning my body and grabbing a few more props. The supported butterfly pose or calvary's pose. This is called Sukhda Bhurakarnasana. The Sukhda is reclined and Bhurakarnasana is bound calvary's pose. So I like to start with more height to support my knees. And then I find that if it's too much height I can always take some of this away. So I have a block in a towel on either side of my legs. My hips are up against my pillow. I'm going to inhale here. And just recline gently. Getting a comfortable position here. My knees are bent pointing towards the sky. My toes are together. Inhaling here and slightly dropping my knees. And adjust the props to catch you and support you in the best possible way. Hands can come out to your side. Perhaps in a t-shape it's more comfortable that can stay on your stomach completely. What feels good for you and your body. And again restorative yoga is just about relaxing and sinking deeper and deeper into the pose and allow the props to help you do that. Let's connect with our breath. Bring it through our nose and point towards the ceiling. Dropping the hands on the floor and rolling over onto the side. Can use your hands to help push you into a seated position. For my next posture while I'm sitting right here I'd like to do a supported spinal twist. So as I'm sitting here my hip is pushed up against my pillow. My bottom knee is close to the pillow. My top knee is laid out slightly. On my inhale finding length through the spine. And on the exhale twisting over the pillows starting with my belly button. So moving belly first, neck last. And then using my hands to guide me down to a comfortable position. Feel free to add more height here. Perhaps it'd be more comfortable being a little higher. Hands down to the side. Just allowing your body to sink into this position. Feeling completely supported and comfortable. If at any time it's uncomfortable feel free to come out of a position and modify it or feel free to skip it. Connecting with the breath, breathing through the nose. Exhale. Push your body up and then gently move over to the other side. So now my opposite hip is pushed up against my pillows. My bottom knee is closest to my pillows. My top knee is laid out slightly. On the inhale find some length through the spine. And on the exhale starting with the belly button. Turn. Head coming last. Hands coming down to the floor and guiding your body down into a comfortable position. Boxing your body. Making any necessary adjustments. Connecting with the breath. Hands back. And on the exhale we guide our body into a seated position. The next position is the supported fishbowl. For this let's bring our hips up against the pillow. If it feels good you can feel free. Put a towel under your knees. Let's inhale, coming up into it. Bringing some length into our spine. And then exhale walking the hands back. Guiding your body into a comfortable position. Opening up through the chest. Through the heart. Through the shoulders. Hands can come out into a T. Or perhaps at about a 45 degree angle through your body. Or even on your belly. Sinking here. Lending the pillows. Let's catch your body. Crating your body from here. Let's roll over onto your side. And push yourself up into a comfortable position. Now for closing I'd like to show your hands up the long. Or shavasana. You can choose which one is best for you. Or shavasana. I actually like to take some of the arch out of my shoulders. So I have a pillow for my head. And I have a pillow for my knee. Or excuse me a towel for under my knees. Shavasana. Inhale, resting pose. Feel free to guide yourself down. You can feel free to put the towel under your lower back. That would help catch and support you. Hands come out to the side. Toes are split out to the side. And just sinking into the position. This is one of the final resting poses. Another option is doing legs up the wall. And for this. So many props. For this I'd like to have a towel under my head. Or perhaps a pillow under your head would feel better. Whichever you prefer. And then bring my hips right to the wall. And guide my body into a reclined position. From here I bring my legs up. And then actually make my body around. My head's on the towel. If it feels good, feel free to put a towel under your hips. Raise your hips a little bit. And you can bring your body, your arms out into the tee. Or perhaps your hands are on your belly. Whichever feels best for you. You can sink into this position. Or perhaps your shavasana. And gently close your eyes. Breathing in through your nose. Gently bring your legs down. Shipping our body around to the side. Perhaps removing any props. Roll over onto the side. And push yourself up into a comfortable seated position. Let's sit up tall. Again bringing an imaginary rope extending from the crown of our head to the sky. Dropping the chin. Let's take one deep breath together. Through the nose and out through the mouth. Let's inhale bringing the hands up over the head. And palms come in front of the heart. May you move throughout this year. Peace, relaxation, and joy. Thank you for joining me today.